Censorship of Literature in Post-Revolutionary Iran

Politics and Culture since 1979

Alireza Abiz

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780755634927
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Corruption & Misconduct
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Censorship pervades all aspects of political, social and cultural life in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Faced with strict state control of cultural output, Iranian authors and writers have had to adapt their work to avoid falling foul of the censors. In this pioneering study, Alireza Abiz offers an in-depth, interdisciplinary analysis of how censorship and the political order of Iran have influenced contemporary Persian literature, both in terms of content and tone. As censorship is unrecorded and not officially acknowledged in Iran, the author has examined newspaper records and conducted first-hand interviews with Iranian poets and writers. looking into the ways in which poets and writers attempt to subvert the codes of censorship by using symbolism and figurative language to hide their more controversial messages. A ground-breaking analysis, this book will be vital reading for anyone interested in contemporary cultural politics and literature in Iran.

Chapter 1

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CENSORSHIP IN IRAN FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PRESS UNTIL THE 1979 REVOLUTION

A historical study of censorship is not the aim of this book, but a brief history of censorship in modern Iran will help understand the present situation better. It will give the reader a background knowledge of the early foundations of the censorship apparatus and its development until today. It will shed some light on the continued battle of ideas and the never-ending war between proponents and opponents of freedom of expression. State-imposed censorship, which is the focus of study in this book, is regulated and implemented by the state and is therefore best studied in line with major political and social changes which shape power relations. Events such as the Constitutional Revolution, the rise of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah as well as the 1953 coup d’état hugely changed censorship practices and consequently affected the literature produced in their respective eras. Although these procedures and practices have considerably changed, fundamental principles of censorship remain the same.

Censorship is not a unique characteristic of modern times. It has been around, in one form or another, throughout history. The widespread, state-governed, centralized censorship of the type that is the subject of this book, however, came with the technical advancements which made publications accessible to the wider public. The first Persian language newspaper printed inside Iran dates back to May 1837. It had no title and was simply called Kāghaz-e Akhbār (newspaper). This newspaper was not published regularly and did not last long. Some scholars therefore, consider the publication of the second newspaper, Ruznāmay-e Vaqāy-e Ettefāqiyeh – established on 7 February 1851 – as the beginning of press and publication in Iran.¹ Whether we agree or disagree on the birthdate of press and publication, censorship soon became an integral part of life for this newcomer. According to Ahmad Karimi Hakkak, shortly after the publication of the second Persian newspaper, the Ruznāmay-e Vaqāy-e Ettefāqiyeh, Nāser al-Din Shah appointed one of his court functionaries, a British subject named Edward Burgess, to oversee the contents of the paper.²

Goel Kohan, who has researched the history of the Iranian press, believes that Burgess prepared two different newspapers; one which was openly published and sold to the public and a second confidential paper only for the king and the prime minister. Although no copy of the confidential bulletin has been found, Kohan believes it was intended to inform the king of the news and political reports without any censorship. This, he claims, is the foundation of unofficial censorship as it manifests the will of the state to prevent free publication of news. Therefore, Edward Burgess, whose main job was translating news and features from European newspapers, could be called the first modern censor in Iran.³

However, the first official department for censorship was created a decade later in 1863. By then, translation and authorship as well as the publication of books and the press had expanded and the ruling court felt the need to create a system to prevent the use of this developing means of communication by undesirable elements. Nāser al-Din Shah appointed E’temadolsaltaneh as the head of the newly-established Department of Government Press and clearly ordered that ‘all printing houses and newspapers in Iran should come under supervision of this department’.⁴ Although this department was responsible for monitoring the press and publications, there were no set guidelines for censorship and it was all at the discretion of the head of the department himself; a duty which he willingly embraced. Karimi Hakkak writes that ‘On at least one occasion he personally burnt all the copies of a book of poetry which he had not checked himself, although its publication had been sanctioned by his deputy’.⁵ As the number of presses and publications increased and political divisions appeared to enter into newspaper columns, the government thought about creating a legal framework to control and censor publications. In 1879, Cont de Monte Ferte, the Chief of Police – who was of Italian citizenship – was assigned the duty of writing a set of rules and regulations which would ensure the successful suppression of free speech. The code that he wrote is known as ‘The Penal Code of the Italian Count [The Count Code] and is the first official law for censorship of the press and inspection and censorship of free expression’.⁶ This Code criminalized publishing any book against religion, the state, or the nation and stipulated various punishments for any criticism of the king or the monarchy.

The restricted conditions in these years gave rise to a new phenomenon which became instrumental in the history of the Iranian press as well as the political and social changes that ensued. A group of reformists and intellectuals who found it extremely difficult to continue their active involvement in public life left the country and chose a life in exile. Many Persian papers were consequently published outside Iran; in India, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Transcaspia, and even in London and Paris. These papers and the books authored by those intellectuals were then sent into Iran and familiarized the educated class with new ideas of modernism and constitutional monarchy.⁷ They openly criticized the despotic ruler and different government officials. Although censorship prevented the publication of anything undesirable inside the country, the materials published overseas continued to stir anger and displeasure among the ruling class. A satirical piece targeting the king himself and published in Bombay made the king very angry and he ordered the postal service to inspect the books and newspapers. E’temadolsaltaneh, who was in charge of the government press, took it upon himself to find a solution. He writes:

I told the king that in Europe, the governments have created special inquisition departments called ‘censorship’ to prevent this problem. As I explained the requirements and the functions, His Majesty favoured it very much and ordered the censorship office to be created in Iran under my supervision and since then, this fault is cured and the line of this business interrupted.⁸

The King thus officially announced the birth of the ‘Censorship Department’ on Thursday 5 February 1885.

In spite of all the efforts at banning books, newspapers, and periodicals from reaching Iran, the number and variety of such publications increased. They continued to be smuggled into the country and a group of writers from inside Iran cooperated in writing articles and disseminating news. The struggle between censors and advocates of free speech continued until the Constitutional Revolution. In fact, many scholars believe that newspapers such as Akhtar (published in Istanbul), Ershād (published in Baku), Qānun (published in London), Hekmat (published in Cairo), and Hablal-Matin (published in Calcutta) as well as books and other publications written by the intellectuals of the time played a significant role in informing the people and encouraging them to demand the rule of law and limit the absolute powers of the monarchy. By the death of Nāser al-Din Shah and the beginning of the reign of Mozaffar al-Din Shah (ad 1896), the press and publications had developed inside Iran and although the censors were at work as before, their success in suppressing the opposition was falling. The victory of the constitutionalists meant the defeat of the censors. The Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911) replaced the absolute monarchy with a constitutional monarchy and led to the establishment of the first parliament in the country. The Constitution of 1906, which was the outcome of the Constitutional Revolution, outlined a democratic path for the country which aimed to transform the centuries’ old absolute rule to constitutional monarchy based on secular nationalism while preserving Islamic principles and the religious structure of the society. In Shireen T. Hunter’s words, ‘the 1906 constitution was based on a political compromise between the two groups that cooperated in Iran’s constitutional movement – between the secular-nationalists and the Islamic forces’.⁹

As in other revolutions, the lifting of censorship opened up the floodgates. The Iranian press and publishing industry experienced an unprecedented freedom. The number of newspapers jumped from six at the eve of the revolution to more than ninety at the opening of the Constituent Assembly (October 1906).¹⁰ Abrahamian notes that intellectuals seized the opportunity to debate concepts deemed too dangerous in previous decades:

These concepts, especially liberty, equality, and fraternity, inspired the names of many of the new publications – Bidāri (Awakening), Taraqqi (Progress), Tamaddon (Civilization), Vatan (Fatherland), Ādamiyyat (Humanity), Omid (Hope), ‘Asr-e Now (New Age), Nedā-ye Vatan (Voice of the Fatherland), Esteqlāl (Independence), Eslāh (Reform), Eqbāl (Progress), Hoquq (Right), Haqiqat (Truth), Adālat (Justice), Āzādi (Liberty), Mosāvāt (Equality), and Okhovvat (Fraternity).¹¹

According to Ahmad Karimi Hakkak, ‘The period between the signing of the Constitution (December 1906) and the passage of the first Press Law (March 1908) was marked by the fervent activity of the Persian press. Backed by the newly opened Majles (parliament) the press immediately broke free from virtually all forms of prior official control.’¹² The few papers that existed before the Constitution were, in Edward G. Browne’s words ‘lithographed sheets appearing at irregular intervals, and containing no news or observations of interest, but only panegyrics on various princes and governors, and assurances that everybody was contented and happy’¹³ while a short while after the granting of the Constitution, all this changed. A number of daily, weekly, and biweekly papers appeared and soon ‘every important town in Persia had its paper or papers’.¹⁴

The first parliament drafted a supplement to the Constitution within its first year of activity which also included articles about freedom of expression and guaranteed a free press. According to Article 20 of the Supplement to the first Constitution:

All publications are free except the misleading books and those harmful to the religion [Islam] and censoring them is forbidden, but if they contain anything contrary to the Press Law, the publisher or writer will be punished according to the Press Law. If the writer is known and resident of Persia [Iran] then the publisher and printer and distributer will not be prosecuted.¹⁵

Article 22 of the same supplement guaranteed freedom of postal correspondence: ‘All postal correspondences are protected and immune from inspection and confiscation unless in exceptional cases set by law’.¹⁶

Although freedom of expression was one of the fundamental demands of the constitutionalists, the conservatives who supported the absolute monarchy were actively opposed to it. They tried to depict freedom of expression as a dangerous weapon which would eventually lead to freedom of religious belief and freedom of alternative ideologies. Their purpose was to invoke religious sentiments against the constitutionalists. When Mozaffar al-Din Shah died in January 1907 – shortly after he had signed the Constitutional Decree – his son Mohammad Ali Shah succeeded to the throne. The new king was no fan of constitutionalism and was adamant in his determination to maintain absolute power. From the very beginning of his reign, he took a strong stand against the nominal adoption and application of a constitution that limited his power.¹⁷ The constitutionalists had the majority in the parliament and enjoyed wide support by the public and actively fought back until the Shah dissolved and bombed the parliament in a coup. Many of the famous constitutionalists fled or were arrested, executed, or jailed. The period from the coup d’état of 23 June 1908 until the arrival of the pro-constitutional forces into Tehran and the deposition of Mohammad Ali Shah (16 July 1909) is known as the ‘Lesser Despotism’; it was a period of strict censorship and many newspapers and periodicals were closed or went underground. However, Constitutionalism was restored soon after the abdication and escape of the Shah in July 1909 and the press and publications boomed again. Reformist ideas including on the status of women were publicly debated and promoted. Hamid Dabashi notes that ‘Tehran and other major cities were the site of an astounding growth of radical and reformist papers, including, an avalanche of periodicals committed to the cause of women’s emancipation’.¹⁸

Persian literature, especially poetry, experienced a revival during and after the Constitutional Revolution. Literature was now perceived to be at the service of the people and consequently required a language simple enough for ordinary people to appreciate. Malekolshoara Bahar, Aref Qazvini, Seyyed Ali Ashraf Gilani (Nasim Shomal), and Jafar Khamenei were some of the poets who ‘wrote about the social and political events in the everyday language of people and would sometimes read aloud to uneducated groups’.¹⁹ This was a major shift from previous poetry. This development of writing is exemplified with a social and political orientation. ‘Political poetry, satire, and critical journalism constituted a remarkable body of Persian literature in the nineteenth century and the Constitutional period.’²⁰ Literature of the Constitutional era is one of the most interesting in the literary history of Iran. According to Hassan Javadi, the shift from the previous literature was considerable not only in view of content but also in view of genre, language, and form. It aimed at and attracted a more general public and more varied audience. Generally speaking, it changed the relationship of poet and writer with their readers.²¹ The cultural outcome of the Constitutional movement was perhaps its most significant contribution. Writers and poets succeeded to establish themselves as a force of enlightenment and gained a social position enjoyed hitherto only by the clergy. They could now speak to the masses. In Dabashi’s words:

The lasting significance of the Constitutional Revolution was in its unleashing of a cultural effervescence that overcompensated for the absence of economic vigour with an overwhelmingly creative literary imagination. Persian poetry of the Constitutional period… exudes a peculiarly powerful fusion of eroticism and politics, of earthly and material love injecting beauty and passion into the subversive violence at the root of all collective defiance of tyranny.²²

A similar idea is shared by some other ...

Table of contents

• COVER
• HALFTITLE PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
• INTRODUCTION
• Chapter 1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF CENSORSHIP IN IRAN FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PRESS UNTIL THE 1979 REVOLUTION
• Chapter 2. LAWS, THEORIES AND POLICIES OF CENSORSHIP IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
• Chapter 3. THE CENSOR MACHINE: STRUCTURE AND MECHANISM, OPERATORS, CHANGES AND VARIATIONS
• Chapter 4. CENSORS AT WORK
• Chapter 5. REWARD AND PUNISHMENT: DIFFERENT TOOLS FOR THE SAME END
• Chapter 6. HOW DO WRITERS AND POETS REACT TO CENSORSHIP?
• Chapter 7. HOW IS CENSORSHIP AFFECTING IRANIAN LITERATURE?
• Chapter 8. CONCLUSION
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX
• IMPRINT